What you just described is being a passenger. People can already do
that, and don't need training.

See, I wondered who would come out of the woodwork to say something
like that.

What I described is most emphatically NOT being a passenger. It's
being a driver. With modern technology, flying an airplane really can
be as simple as driving a car. Why shouldn't we make it that simple?
It would give us the advantage of numbers, and that of course would
reduce costs, regulation, etc.

Of course this would significantly devalue the skills of the existing
lightplane pilot, but so what? Do you really believe the skills
required to drive cross country in a 2005 Ford Focus with power
steering, antilock brakes, automatic transmission, the Neverlost
package, and OnStar on modern roads is even vaguely comparable to
making the same trip in a Model T in its heyday?

Flying can be expensive, or it can be difficult and inconvenient - but
if it's going to survive, it can't be both.

Michael